After twenty, yes 20 years I finally have my "other car" on the road. You know what they say about a wife, kids, and life? Well some of it is true.It's a '71 Nova with a 400sbc, close ratio T10, and 3.32s in a 8.2 ten bolt. And it's Hemi Orange .The revelations?Electric fuel pumps belong in the gas tank, not mounted on a frame rail where they can irritate the livin' hell out of you.A 140 amp alternator with a single groove, a new belt, and a partially drained battery makes one hell of a squeal.If you pay $300.00 (Canadian) for a T10, it's gonna have some issues. With a 2.13:1 first gear you really need more than 3.32s in the rear.The early two belt three point seat belt system is a royal pain in the arse.The ancient Holley Projection-4 system is junk when compared to modern fuel injection but I'm happier with it than any carburetor I've ever had.I've been driving it for three days. Yes, the list of winter mods is growing.

Damn it's nice to have it on the road

Ken

Last edited by Kenova on Fri Jul 15, 2016 9:13 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Ken I am torn now! That means that little cherry of an original Vega is going to get V8'd . But an X-Body on the road is Supreme! Yes we have become really spoiled with FI now haven't we? I have found an answer to your seat belt problem, making it fit will be all YOU! This link is for a "dual retractor belt" so the clip stays at the bottom wear it belongs with no sliding the clip/catch along every time you get in! Harry http://www.retrobeltusa.com/product-p/rb-7477v-xxx.htm

I'm not a hoarder I'm a preservationist 78 Monza Spyder (Soon To Be 2+2 with Spoilers)

Thanks for the link Harry. I'll also be looking at these https://www.morrisclassic.com/collectio ... -seatbelts . They seem to have a good reputation for their product and customer service. They also make three point belts for the rear seat.Yes, the Vega's turn is coming but not for a while. I want to have all of the bugs ironed out of the Nova before I tear into the Vega.I'll try to post some pictures of The Great Pumpkin over the weekend.

As soon as I figure out what I want to do for front seats the original belts will be gone. I am definitely going to bucket seats, I just haven't decide which one(s). I have some original SS buckets without runners but the only part of them I would be using are the frames and they really don't offer much lateral support.

Ken years ago my brothers '71 Nova [between the 3 of us we ended up with maybe 6 or 8 1st gen. {and 1 2nd gen} X-Bodies] ended up with a set of Monza seats we put them in with a four speed conversion, [then he sold it as one of our friends "just had to have it"] and they looked pretty at home in there. You can try this out for free with just undoing some screws and plop one out of the "Red Beauty" in there for a "Look See"! I would save the sliders off of the bench as a starting place as they fit the floor already in the outer locations and you can then maybe use the H-body ones for the inner locations [left outer from the H moved to the right inner in the X, {no floor hump for the cat in '71} and the right outer from the H to the left inner in the X, this will deal with most of the slider situation for you] You will probably end up with Camaro seats [2nd Gen] as they are a little wider, and I think that will be more in-line with today's trends, sorry I don't remember which ones were the widest style there are also some 3rd Gen seats that may work out but they all seamed narrower than the 2nd Gen seats to my eye,[no measuring tools were used during this assumption]. Harry And a little edit:

Harry Screams wrote:And Ken WHERE ARE OUR PIC's you promised?

I'm not a hoarder I'm a preservationist 78 Monza Spyder (Soon To Be 2+2 with Spoilers)

Sorry Harry. With the recent break in the warm weather I found myself doing a bunch of stuff around the house. As soon as I found the leak I put it back on it's skates so I didn't have a chance to get some good pics.Anyways, here's an ass shot to tease you with.

IMG_0864.jpg (54.38 KiB) Viewed 392 times

Here's the top end, all cleaned up and waiting for gaskets (and they're back ordered )

IMG_0865.jpg (54.06 KiB) Viewed 392 times

I managed to fix the squealing alternator pulley by stepping up to a 2.75" pulley from 2.5". I have a 3" coming with the gaskets. Since the coolant was drained I also took care of a leaking frost plug.That much less to do in the winter.

Kenova wrote:Electric fuel pumps belong in the gas tank, not mounted on a frame rail where they can irritate the livin' hell out of you.

Absolutely!

It will be getting an in-tank pump over the winter.It's not just the noise. Mounted where it is there is no telling how long it will last. With questionable reliability in the back of my mind I'm a little cautious of traveling very far, and that takes some of the fun out of it.